Two University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) doctoral students are the recipients of the prestigious 2022 National Communication Association (NCA) Douglas P. Cushman Memorial Award. Chelsea Moss and Taylor Vasquez were honored for “Make Your Family Proud: Analyzing the Communication of Roles and Identity in Disney’s ‘Encanto.’”

Their paper was the highest-ranked student-authored paper across all NCA conference divisions. It features their analysis of Disney’s “Encanto” through the lens of symbolic interactionism and role theory to examine how family roles were communicatively constructed. They found four broad themes pertaining to the Madrigal family’s role enactment including how they react positively to others in the system, how they react negatively, individual support for the family identity, and how identity is formed in conjunction with one’s family role.

A summary of their research is available here.

According to the authors, “Findings illustrate the complex and ever-fluctuating nature of role enactment and identity within the family system, with attention paid to the multigenerational dynamic of the Madrigal family. This study offers family communication and media scholars greater insight into ’Encanto’s’ messaging regarding family roles and individual role identity and empowers families to more critically consume their entertainment media content.”

The award will be presented at an NCA conference ceremony in New Orleans in November.

Posted: October 3, 2022
Category: College News, Student News
Tagged as: Chelsea Moss, NCA, Taylor Vasquez